Silver
by Lionus
Summary: No matter how youthful he felt, time would always prove to be even more stubborn than the great Salamander.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.**

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><p>Natsu screwed his mouth to the side as his hand flew to his jaw in deep thought, trying in vain to pinpoint the exact second it happened.<p>

The fire dragon slayer scratched absently at the stubble on his jaw- scowling when Gajeel's numerous jokes about his pink beard came to mind, it momentarily distracted him from the matter at hand. His trump card had been pointing out that a few of his old friend's own hairs had taken on a definite silvery shine in recent years. Besides that, a beard was a beard and Lucy never had an issue with the fact that he had pink facial hair. And really, only her opinion mattered at the end of the day when she held the power to banish him to the couch for however many nights she deemed fit.

Not that it was his _beard_ that would have him sent to the couch, that reason always got pegged on what the beard grew _around_.

Natsu shook his head, his beard wasn't the problem today and, thankfully, neither was his mouth. He fixed his gaze back on the shock of hair that made up his cowlick and frowned.

It weathered the test of time and still remained, boyishly growing straight up from his scalp as it always had. He remembered Igneel telling him it grew that way because he had too much energy to be contained- so it sprouted out in a chunk on the top of his head to balance it out. The old dragon's warm chortle reverberated in Natsu's mind and reminded the dragon slayer that it was about time for another visit with his foster father.

Gray eyes flicked from his old scarf back to his hair.

He still couldn't believe it.

Or _why_ it was just in that _one_ spot.

The bright salmon shade had faded and given up somewhere over his years, yielding to his age and turning a light gray color- like the color of smoke.

Lucy had told him he was lucky it didn't clash with the pink, seeing as it was a hard color to match with others. Natsu had scoffed at her, but she was right. If someone were to just glance at him, they probably wouldn't have noticed it right away.

That fact still didn't answer his question.

Not in the least.

The dragon slayer tugged at the tuft of hair and grumbled. He didn't feel it- but he _was_ because his hair was _gray_. Even that old Salamander energy had nothing on Father Time.

"What are you doing?" Lucy folded her arms and leaned on the bathroom door's frame, the quizzical set to her brow briefly flashing him back to the long days when he was more of a conundrum to her than friend or guild mate or husband.

Natsu puffed up his cheeks and glowered at his reflection, the force of his glare set specifically on the cowlick. He briefly wondered if he could will it back to the original color. "When did we get old?"

"_We?"_ Her brow quirked a different way and it was the sole countenance of _wife_, of universal challenge and 'tread lightly's.

He scoffed. "We're the same age…" His grin was just the same at least, something he was infinitely proud of. He would have lost it entirely if he began lose his teeth too, or worse, one of his dearly cared for fangs. Natsu stepped closer to her and tugged on a lock of her hair, quietly pleased with the lighter strands that caught in the light. _Highlights, his ass_. "So yeah."

Lucy swatted at his hand and poked his middle, causing him to deflate and curl forwards. He caught her hand in an attempt to keep her from repeating the treatment.

"So brave, I would have figured you would have learned your lesson about avoiding the couch by now."

This time, it was his brow that quirked cleverly.

"Kinda hard to when you've never sentenced me there in the first place." Natsu leaned forward and hovered, his breath ghosting over her mouth.

She hummed, smirking coquettishly as she inched forward and brushed her nose over his. "We're not dead _yet_, so don't hold your breath on that one." The celestial mage closed the distance between them and pecked her husband on the mouth. "So, what's got you in a sudden epiphany?"

He pulled back and tugged once more on his hair. "It's _gray_."

Lucy laughed and yanked on the end of his scarf. "It's been gray for awhile now, Natsu."

"Yeah, I know- but when you get gray hair, it means you're old. We're _old_, Luce. When did we get old?"

Lucy set her hand on his cheek, her eyes softening. "Probably around the time our nest emptied out or when you became a _grandfather_. It's not a bad thing, Natsu."

The dragon slayer huffed and crossed his arms, looking away petulantly and grumbling under his breath, "Well, I know _that_. It just surprised me."

"Were you expecting a notice?" She pulled his arms from over his chest and wound them around her. Lucy wrapped her arms around his neck and tangled her hands in the hair at the nape of his neck. "You're nearly 45 years old and you're surprised _now_?"

He shrugged. "It comes and goes."

She laughed again and for the billionth time he was grateful for the almost 30 years he'd been able to hear it and even more for the ability to draw the sound from her again and again.

Lucy grinned and scrunched her nose at him. "So long as you're not going through a midlife crisis."

He kissed the spot between her eyebrows, then playfully tucked his nose by her neck. "I've had enough crises to last me four lifetimes, so I'll pass on that kind, thanks."

"Ain't that the truth." She brushed her hands over the shadows on his jaw and cheeks and pulled him away to meet her eye. "But you need to shave soon."

Natsu snipped at her hand and growled. "I'll shave, if…you say my beard looks better than Gajeel's."

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><p><strong>AN: **It's been awhile since I've done something for these two. If you think you're seeing double with this story, this was also posted on my tumblr.

-Now with appropriate character tags because I forgot them and _just now_ realized it.-


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